None of Saturday’s brightest stars - not Demetrious
Johnson, not Glover
Teixeira, not Ricardo
Lamas and, no, not even Anthony
Pettis -- are household names among the type of viewer who
spent the weekend looking for a way to bridge the gap between the
NFL conference championships and the Super Bowl. At best, that
audience might be familiar with Pettis’ sensational “Showtime” kick
that closed the curtain on the
World Extreme Cagefighting era. However, that highlight
occurred a few years ago in a lesser-known promotion, meaning that
Joe Six Pack might have already forgotten about Pettis’ 15 minutes
of highlight-reel fame on ESPN. Instead, UFC on Fox 6 was about
making memorable introductions for a stable of top-tier
athletes.

Part of the goal of the UFC on Fox series is to build the brand of
some of the promotion’s up-and-coming talent. It happened in
December, when Benson
Henderson, Alexander
Gustafsson and Rory
MacDonald each scored emphatic victories at UFC on Fox 5. It
happened again at the United Center in Chicago, as all of the
aforementioned UFC on Fox 6 competitors received unprecedented
exposure, which should, at least in theory, increase interest in a
pay-per-view card featuring any of the above down the road.

The building process comes at a price, namely a big-name veteran
with a large following and gaudy resume but a few less skills than
he had in his prime. Last month, MacDonald battered and taunted a
faded B.J.
Penn, while Gustafsson outclassed Mauricio
“Shogun” Rua. MacDonald and Gustafsson were the ones getting
the push, but it was Penn and Rua, a pair of former champions, who
attracted the casual fan.

File
Photo

Teixeira got the win he needed.

In Chicago, it was Jackson’s turn to provide the
marquee appeal. Ardent followers of mixed martial arts knew the
former
Pride Fighting Championships standout was but a shell of the
fighter who had captured the
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight crown with a
memorable knockout of Chuck
Liddell in his second Octagon appearance five and a half years
ago. They knew that “Rampage” had not scored a knockout since 2008,
despite all the promotional vehicles trumpeting his devastating
power. They knew that Jackson had shown up overweight and injured
for his last bout and that he had thrown his employer under the bus
after losing a lackluster decision to Ryan Bader at
UFC 144. It was no secret that Jackson already had one foot out the
door.

While Teixeira had been impressive in his first two UFC bouts,
Kyle
Kingsbury and Fabio
Maldonado are hardly springboard material. The Brazilian needed
a brighter feather to add to his cap, and “Rampage” fit that bill
perfectly. Jackson appears to have no long-term future with
Zuffa.

While UFC President Dana White would not rule out re-signing the
former champion, the fighter himself remained disgruntled during
the week of the bout, complaining during a UFC on Fox 6 conference
call about -- among other things -- being unable to wear the gear
of his latest sponsor, Reebok, to the Octagon on fight night.

The fact that Jackson can ink a prominent endorsement deal despite
having seen better days in the competitive arena speaks volumes
about his star power.

“We think his personality will transcend where he is at,” Reebok
head of U.S. marketing John Lynch said in an interview with Kevin
Iole of Yahoo! Sports. “I understand the UFC is the 800-pound
gorilla in this sport. We get that. But we believe he’s got a
tremendous amount of juice on his own. He’s a guy people have
looked to as someone who transcends the sport that he’s in. He has
appeal simply beyond [fighting] and we just liked the fit of who he
is.”

Rather than burying Jackson on a card to fulfill the final fight on
his deal with the promotion, the UFC wisely chose to put its soured
star in a prominent position for his farewell. If there were some
who questioned why Jackson received a co-headlining spot on Fox
after such a poor performance against Bader, there were others who
probably tuned in specifically to see the guy who played B.A.
Baracus in “The A-Team” remake. More than Pettis’ kick in the WEC,
they would remember how Jackson knocked out the iconic Liddell
after the mohawked fighter appeared on the cover of ESPN the
Magazine. Those who had no interest in watching a flyweight feature
might be persuaded to turn to Fox to see the guy with the mean mug
and chain stroll to the Octagon one final time.

All things considered, Jackson put up a valiant effort in his UFC
swan song. He looked to be in decent shape, and despite being
largely outgunned by Teixeira, Jackson left nothing in the chamber,
swinging for the fences at every opportunity. The result -- a
unanimous decision win for Teixeira -- was not surprising, but
Jackson was not completely embarrassed, either.

“I’m a fan,” Teixeira said after the conclusion of the fight to
Jackson, who responded in turn: “Now I’m your fan. Go get the
title.”

If there was any doubt about Jackson following through with his
plans to leave the world’s largest MMA organization, he made his
intentions clear during a conversation with White.

“‘Rampage’ just walked out right now and said, ‘You’re going to
miss me.’ I said, ‘I miss you already, buddy,’” White told
reporters not long after the conclusion of the event.

Where Jackson goes next remains a mystery. Maybe he tries to coax a
big contract from
Bellator Fighting Championships or perhaps he gives up fighting
altogether and makes a serious run at Hollywood. What is clear is
that his time with the UFC has run its course.

“No one ever wrote on their tombstone: ‘I wish I spent less time
with my kids.’ Remember what’s important,” Jackson tweeted earlier
this month.

When all was said and done, Jackson served the UFC well, even with
the occasional mishap along the way. His arrival helped the
promotion grow shortly after “The Ultimate Fighter” exposed the
sport to a wider audience, and he ended his tenure by hastening the
ascent of an up-and-coming talent.

UFC on Fox 6, perhaps the promotion’s best offering on the network
to date, will be remembered for the emergence of several new stars,
but it will also be significant for closing the book on the
“Rampage” era in the UFC. Like the NFL, and most any major sports
organization, for that matter, the UFC has a pretty firm yet
unwritten Next-Man-Up policy. When one star fades, another rises to
take his place.